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‘My heart gave out its call for help at 3pm on a relatively unstressful day in November last year, two months before my birthday,’ explains the broadcaster.

‘I was at home at my computer. I felt a creaking, lurching, gripping pain. My reaction was to stand up and stretch a bit. I thought I might have pulled a muscle. That did no good. So I made a cup of tea, which seemed to help.’

A Google search confirmed that the symptoms might be serious.

‘But,’
he continues, ‘here’s the real difficulty. Do you drop everything in
these circumstances? Do you inconvenience people relying on you? When is
the right moment to press the panic button? I took the cowardly option
and battled on.’

Only when
he mentioned his condition to Mr Austin at the rugby match did he
realise the gravity of the situation ‘And here is the oddness of it
all,’ he says. ‘They seem to have fixed it entirely.

‘I
must take statins to block the chances of future blockages, plus a drug
to help the stent embed itself. And I have been prescribed a daily
low-dose aspirin.’

Now
back at work on the flagship Radio 4 programme, Mr Webb says the
episode has convinced him that all danger signs should be addressed
immediately, whatever the inconvenience.

He
adds: ‘If you’ve had a bit of a chest pain but dismissed it, or decided
you’ll do something about it next Tuesday, listen up! Act now. Don’t
die.’

Justin, presenter of Radio 4's popular Today programme, pictured, says the scare has convinced him that all danger signs should be addressed immediately